India currently produces 500,000 tones of e-waste annually and the figure is expected to touch one million tones in the next three years. However, India lacks a proper e-waste disposal system and it is left up to the unorganized sector to dispose of the waste.

The unorganised sector uses uncontrolled burning and disassembly to discard the waste, leading to environmental and health problems uneducated workers are exposed to toxic fumes as they don’t even use protective gear. The improper disposal also allows toxic substances to travel up the Food and Water chain.

At a meeting on e-waste awareness on Wednesday, civic officials, Local NGOs and Diplomats from various nations aired their views on the issue.

B K Soni, Chairman of Ecoreco Eco Recycling Limited demonstrated the shredding of a hard drive ‘We shred all kinds of electrical and electronic goods using eco friendly methods. We shred the parts into pieces, segregate the pieces and then send them to smelting companies. Unlike the kabadis, we use no chemicals or flames so our method of recycling has zero hazards, he said.

Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak said there was a need to introduce incentives so that people return their electrical and electronic good to the manufacturer when they bought a new piece.

Dr. Indu Shahani, Sheriff of Mumbai, stressed on the need of involving the youth in solving the problem of e-waste.

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